Influence of nitrogen on hot workability and properties of austenitic stainless steels - experience at Midhani

Over the years, nitrogen has continued to receive considerable attention as an alloying element in stainless steels in place of costly nickel, in view of economy and the effectiveness of nitrogen as an austenite stabilizer. Nitrogen addition not only improves mechanical properties at ambient and cryogenic temperature, but also enhances the corrosion resistance of the alloys significantly. At Midhani, several nitrogen containing stainless steels with nitrogen level ranging from 0.1 to 0.45% have been developed for different critical applications i e., power, chemical, petro chemical, marine, cryogenic, automobiles. High quality nitrogen containing stainless steels have been processed through Electro Slag Refining (ESR) process which improves the cleanliness as well as enhances the hot workability of the steels